Tagset

Revision as of 17:53, 16 November 2009

The set of features in a UNL-driven dictionary depends on the structure of the natural language and may vary a lot. However, in order to better standardize lexical resources inside the UNL framework, the UNDL Foundation recommends the adoption of the following tags for some specific and pervasive grammatical phenomena. Several of those linguistic constants have been already proposed to the Data Category Registry (ISO 12620), and represent widely accepted linguistic concepts. Our main intention here is just to provide a harmonized system to be shared by the UNL community so as to make dictionaries as easily understandable as possible.

General Guidelines

In order to define the tags to be used in the UNL Tagset, the following premises were adopted:

• Tags should be as few as possible
• Tags should be as short as possible
• Tags should be as mnemonic as possible

These assumptions led us to the following general guidelines:

• Tags should be made of a three-character upper-case string (except for negative values, which should be preceded by "N", such as NPFC = non-perfect);
• Tags should be labelled out of English words;
• Tags should be provided in a attribute-value structure, along with definitions and examples.

The resulting set of tags, which is still subject to additions and revisions, is presented below. For the time being, the definitions and examples have been extracted out of the Glossary of Linguistic Terms (Loos et alii), available at SIL International, and are expected to migrate to an online environment, still under construction, where accredited linguists will have the opportunity of improving this repertoire.

List of tags (in alphabetical order)

{ |-1PP|First person plural|Deictic reference that refers to both the speaker and referents grouped with the speaker.|we |-1PS|First person singular|Deictic reference that refers to the speaker.|I |-2PP|Second person plural|Deictic reference to more than one referent identified as addressee.|you |-2PS|Second person singular|Deictic reference to a single referent identified as addressee.|you |-3PP|Third person plural|Deictic reference to more than one referent not identified as the speaker or addressee.|they |-3PS|Third person singular|Deictic reference to a single referent not identified as the speaker or addressee.|he |-AA|Adjunct to an adverb|An optional constituent of an adverbial phrase.| |-AB|Adverbial Phrase (Intermediate Projection)|| |-ABB|Abbreviation||Dr. |-ABE|Abessive|A case that expresses the lack or absence of the referent of the noun it marks| |-ABL|Ablative|A case that indicates movement from something, and/or cause| |-ABS|Abstract|A noun that denotes something viewed as a nonmaterial referent| |-AC|Complement of an adverb|A phrasal or clausal category which is selected (subcategorized) by the head of a phrase.| |-ACAS|Assigns Case|Used to indicate case agreement| |-ACC|Accusative|A case that indicates the direct object of a verb|him (in I saw him) |-ACR|Acronym||UNL |-ACT|Acts or actions|Nouns denoting acts or actions| |-ACV|Active voice|When the subject is the agent or actor of the verb.| |-ADJ|Adjective|Modifiers of nouns.|beautiful |-ADV|Adverb|Modifiers of verbs and other constituent classes.|beautifully |-AGEN|Assigns Gender|Used to indicate gender agreement| |-ALL|Allative|A case that expresses motion to or toward the referent of the noun it marks.| |-ANL|Animal|Nouns denoting animals| |-ANM|Animate|Indicates an animate reference|he, she |-ANUM|Assigns Number|Used to indicate number agreement| |-AP|Adverbial Phrase (Maximal Projection)|| |-APER|Assigns Person|Used to indicate person agreement| |-ARF|Artifact|Nouns denoting man-made objects| |-ART|Article|Determiner that identifies a noun's definite or indefinite reference, and new or given status.|the |-AS|Specifier of an adverb|| |-ASL|Absolutive|Case of nouns in ergative-absolutive languages that would generally be the subjects of intransitive verbs or the objects of transitive verbs in the translational equivalents of nominative-accusative languages such as English.| |-ASP|ASPECT|The grammatical aspect (sometimes called viewpoint aspect) of a verb defines the temporal flow (or lack thereof) in the described event or state. In English, for example, the past-tense sentences "I swam" and "I was swimming" differ in aspect (the first sentence is in what is called the perfective or completive aspect, and the second in what is called the imperfective or durative aspect).| |-ATST|Ambitransitive|A verb that can be used both as intransitive or as transitive without requiring a morphological change|read |-ATT|Attribute|Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects| |-AUX|Auxiliary verb|A verb which accompanies the lexical verb of a verb phrase, and expresses grammatical distinctions not carried by the lexical verb.|will |-BEN|Benefactive|A case that expresses that the referent of the noun it marks receives the benefit of the situation expressed by the clause| |-BON|Body parts|Nouns denoting body parts| |-BOV|Body actions|Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care| |-CA|Adjunct to a conjunction|An optional constituent of a complementizer phrase.| |-CAS|CASE|The case of a noun or pronoun indicates its grammatical function in a greater phrase or clause such as the role of subject or of direct object.| |-CAU|Causative|A case which expresses that the referent of the noun it marks is the cause of the situation expressed by the clause.| |-CB|Conjunctional Phrase (Intermediate Projection)|| |-CC|Complement of a conjunction|A phrasal or clausal category which is selected (subcategorized) by the head of a phrase.| |-CDN|Cardinal numeral|A numeral of the class whose members are considered basic in form, are used in counting, and in expressing how many objects are referred to.|two |-CGN|Cognition nouns|Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents| |-CGV|Cognition verbs|Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting| |-CHA|Change|Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.| |-CIR|Circumposition|| |-CMN|Communication nouns|Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents| |-CMP|Comparative|An adjective that compares the quality with that of another of its kind|better |-CMT|Comitative|A case expressing accompaniment.| |-CMV|Communication verbs|Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing| |-CON|Conditional mood|The form of the verb used in conditional sentences to refer to a hypothetical state of affairs, or an uncertain event that is contingent on another set of circumstances.| |-COO|Coordinating conjunction|A conjunction that links constituents without syntactically subordinating one to the other.|and |-COP|Copula|An intransitive verb which links a subject to a noun phrase adjective, or other constituent which expresses the predicate.|be (to be) |-CP|Conjunctional Phrase (Maximal Projection)|| |-CPR|Reciprocal pronoun|A reciprocal pronoun is a pronoun that expresses a mutual feeling or action among the referents of a plural subject.|They hit [each other]. |-CPT|Competition|Verbs of fighting, athletic activities| |-CRE|Creation|Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing| |-CS|Specifier of a conjunction|| |-CSP|Consumption|Verbs of eating and drinking| |-CTC|Contact|Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging| |-CTN|Continuative||I am still eating. |-CTT|Contraction||don't |-DA|Adjunct of a determiner|An optional constituent of a determiner phrase.| |-DAT|Dative case|A case that indicates the indirect object of a verb|us (in He gave us the book) |-DB|Determiner Phrase (Intermediate Projection)|| |-DC|Complement of a determiner|A phrasal or clausal category which is selected (subcategorized) by the head of a phrase.| |-DEF|Definite|Specific and identifiable in a given context|the |-DEG|DEGREE|Describes the relational value of one thing with something in another clause of a sentence.| |-DEL|Delative|A case which expresses motion downward from the referent of the noun it marks.| |-DEM|Demonstrative|A determiner that is used deictically to indicate a referent's spatial, temporal, or discourse location.|this |-DP|Determiner Phrase (Maximal Projection)|| |-DS|Specifier of a determiner|| |-DTST|Ditransitive|A verb which takes a subject and two objects.|give |-DUA|Dual|Number which refers to two members of the class identified by the noun.| |-ELA|Elative|A case expressing motion out of or away from the referent of the noun it marks.| |-EMO|Emotion|Verbs of feeling| |-EPR|Emphatic pronoun|An emphatic pronoun is a personal pronoun that is used to emphasize its referent.|[Moi], je suis Français. |-EQU|Equative|A case that expresses likeness or identity to the referent of the noun it marks.| |-ERG|Ergative|The case of nouns in ergative-absolutive languages that would generally be the subjects of transitive verbs in the translation equivalents of nominative-accusative languages such as English.| |-ESS|Essive|A case that expresses the temporary state of the referent specified by a noun.| |-ET0|Past event tense|An absolute tense that refers to a time before the moment of utterance.|was (I was here) |-ET1|Present event tense|Absolute tense that refers to the moment of utterance|am (I am here) |-ET2|Future event tense|An absolute tense that refers to a time after the moment of utterance.|will be (I will be here) |-EVT|EVENT TENSE|A temporal linguistic quality expressing the time at, during, or over which a state or action denoted by a verb occurs with reference to the speaker.| |-FEE|Feelings|Nouns denoting feelings and emotions| |-FEM|Feminine|A grammatical gender that marks nouns that have human or animal female referents, and often marks nouns that have referents that do not carry distinctions of sex.|she |-FOO|Food|Nouns denoting foods and drinks| |-FPR|Reflexive pronoun|A reflexive pronoun is a pronoun that has coreference with the subject.|He prides [himself] on his appearance. |-FRA|Fraction numeral||two thirds |-GEN|GENDER|| |-GER|Gerund||sleeping |-GNT|Genitive|A case in which the referent of the marked noun is the possessor of the referent of another noun.|my |-GRO|Group|Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects| |-HAB|Habitual|An imperfective aspect that expresses the occurrence of an event or state as characteristic of a period of time.|I used to walk. |-IA|Adjunct of an inflection|An optional constituent of an inflectional phrase.| |-IB|Inflectional Phrase (Intermediate Projection)|| |-IC|Complement of an inflection|A phrasal or clausal category which is selected (subcategorized) by the head of a phrase.| |-ICP|Inceptive||I started eating. |-ILL|Illative|A case that expresses motion into or direction toward the referent of the noun it marks.| |-IMP|Imperative|A grammatical mood that expresses direct commands or requests. It is also used to signal a prohibition, permission or any other kind of exhortation.| |-IND|Indicative|| |-INE|Inessive|A case that expresses a location within the referent of the noun it marks.| |-INF|Infinitive|The base form of a verb generally unmarked for inflectional categories.|be (to be) |-INJ|Injunctive|| |-INS|Instrumental|A case indicating that the referent of the noun it marks is the means of the accomplishment of the action expressed by the clause.| |-INX|Infix|Affix that is inserted within a root or stem.| |-IP|Inflectional Phrase (Maximal Projection)|| |-IPR|Interrogative pronoun|A pro-form that is used in questions to stand for the item questioned.|who |-IS|Specifier of an inflection|| |-ITE|Iterative|Aspect that expresses the repetition of an event or state.|I ate it again and again. |-ITJ|Interjection||hello |-ITST|Indirect transitive|A verb which takes a subject and a single indirect object| |-JA|Adjunct of an adjective|An optional constituent of an adjective phrase.| |-JB|Adjective Phrase (Intermediate Projection)|| |-JC|Complement of an adjective|A phrasal or clausal category which is selected (subcategorized) by the head of a phrase.| |-JP|Adjective Phrase (Maximal Projection)|| |-JS|Specifier of an adjective|| |-LAT|Lative|A case that expresses motion up to the location of, or as far as the referent of the noun it marks.| |-LCT|Location|Nouns denoting spatial position| |-LEX|LEXICAL STATUS|| |-LOC|Locative|A case that expresses location at the referent of the noun it marks.| |-MAF|Masculine and feminine|Variable gender|un après-midi = une après-midi |-MCL|Masculine|Includes most words that refer to males.|he |-MID|Middle voice|A voice that indicates that the subject is the actor and acts upon himself or herself reflexively, or for his or her own benefit.| |-MOF|Masculine or feminine|Common gender|le pianiste x la pianiste |-MOO|MOOD|A verb mood typically used in dependent clauses to express wishes, commands, emotion, possibility, judgment, opinion, necessity, or statements that are contrary to fact at present.| |-MOT|Motion|Verbs of walking, flying, swimming| |-MOV|Modal verb||can |-MTV|Motive|Nouns denoting goals| |-MTW|Multiword expression|Any string comprising more than a word|United States of America |-MUL|Multiplicative numeral|A numeral that expresses how many fold or how many times.| |-NA|Adjunct of a noun|An optional constituent of a noun phrase.| |-NABS|Non-abstract (concrete)|| |-NANM|Inanimate|Indicates an inanimate reference|it |-NB|Nominal Phrase (Intermediate Projection)|| |-NC|Complement of a noun|A phrasal or clausal category which is selected (subcategorized) by the head of a phrase.| |-NEU|Neuter|Includes mostly words that do not refer to males or females.|it |-NEV|Natural events|Nouns denoting natural events| |-NOB|Natural objects|Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)| |-NOM|Nominative|Indicates the subject of a finite verb.|I (in I saw him) |-NOU|Noun||beauty |-NP|Nominal Phrase (Maximal Projection)|| |-NPFC|Imperfective|An event in the process of unfolding (often a repeated or habitual event)|I was swimming. |-NPR|Indefinite pronoun|An indefinite pronoun is a pronoun that belongs to a class whose members indicate indefinite reference.|anybody, one, somebody |-NS|Specifier of a noun|| |-NTST|Intransitive|A verb that does not take an object|fall |-NUM|NUMBER|A grammatical category of nouns, pronouns, and adjective and verb agreement that expresses count distinctions.| |-ONB|Ordinal numeral|A numeral belonging to a class whose members designate positions in a sequence.|second |-OPT|Optative|A grammatical mood that indicates a wish or hope.| |-PA|Adjunct of a preposition|An optional constituent of a prepositional phrase.| |-PAR|Partitive|A case that expresses the partial nature of the referent of the noun it marks, as opposed to expressing the whole unit or class of which the referent is a part.| |-PAU|Paucal|| |-PAV|Passive voice|When the subject is the patient, target or undergoer of the action.| |-PB|Prepositional Phrase (Intermediate Projection)|| |-PC|Complement of a preposition|A phrasal or clausal category which is selected (subcategorized) by the head of a phrase.| |-PCP|Perception|Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling| |-PER|PERSON|A deictic reference to a participant in an event, such as the speaker, the addressee, or others.| |-PFC|Perfective|A single event conceived as a unit|I swam. |-PFX|Prefix|Affix that is joined before a root or stem.|un |-PGS|Progressive|Continuous aspect that expresses processes, not states.|I am eating. |-PHE |Natural phenomena|Nouns denoting natural phenomena| |-PLA|Plant|Nouns denoting plants| |-PLR|Plural|Number that expresses reference to a quantity greater than that expressed by the largest specific number category in a language, such as "more than one" in English, and "more than two" in some other languages.|they |-PLT|Prolative|A case that expresses motion along or by the referent of the noun it marks.| |-PON|Possession|Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession| |-POS|PART OF SPEECH|| |-POV|Possession|Verbs of buying, selling, owning| |-PP|Prepositional Phrase (Maximal Projection)|| |-PPL|Prepositional|| |-PPN|Proper noun|Noun that is the name of a specific individual, place, or object.|Geneva |-PPR|Personal pronoun|A personal pronoun is a pronoun that expresses a distinction of person deixis.|I, he, she, it, we |-PPS|Postposition|Adposition that occurs after its complement.| |-PPT|Prospective||I am about to eat. |-PRE|Preposition|Adposition that occurs before its complement.|against |-PRO|Natural processes|Nouns denoting natural processes| |-PRS|Person|Nouns denoting people| |-PS|Specififer in Prepositional Phrase|| |-PST|Positive|| |-PTC|Particle|A word that does not belong to one of the main classes of words is invariable in form, and typically has grammatical or pragmatic meaning.|to |-PTP|Participle|A lexical item, derived from a verb, that has some of the characteristics and functions of both verbs and adjectives.|done |-QDR|Quadrual|| |-QTT|Quantity|Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure| |-QUA|Quantifier|A determiner that expresses a referent's definite or indefinite number or amount.|every |-RCAS|Receives Case|Used in case agreement.| |-REL|Relation|Nouns denoting relations between people or things or ideas| |-RGEN|Receives Gender|Used in gender agreement.| |-RNUM|Receives Number|Used in number agreement.| |-RPER|Receives Person|Used in person agreement.| |-RPR|Relative pronoun|A relative pronoun is a pronoun that marks a relative clause, functions grammatically within the relative clause, and is coreferential to the word modified by the relative clause.|The man [who] comes next |-RT0|Past reference tense||had been (I had been here) |-RT1|Present reference tense|| |-RT2|Future reference tense|A relative tense tense that refers to a temporal reference point located in the future.|would had been (I would had been there) |-RTE|REFERENCE TENSE|A temporal linguistic quality expressing the time at, during, or over which a state or action denoted by a verb occurs with reference to another state or action.| |-SBS|Substance|Nouns denoting substances| |-SBW|Subword (bound morpheme)|Any string smaller than a word (a root, a stem, etc)|bab (baby) |-SCJ|Subordinanting conjunction|A conjunction that links constructions by making one of them a constituent of another.|if |-SEM|SEMANTIC FEATURES|| |-SFX|Suffix|Affix that is attached to the end of a root or stem.|s |-SHA|Shape|Nouns denoting two and three dimensional shapes| |-SNG|Singular|Number that refers to one member of a designated class.|he |-SOC|Social|Verbs of political and social activities and events| |-SP|Sentence Phrase (Maximal Projection)|| |-SPE|Superessive|A case that expresses location on the referent of the noun it marks.| |-SPR|Posessive pronoun|A possessive pronoun is a pronoun that expresses ownership and relationships like ownership, such as kinship, and other forms of association.|my, mine |-STA|State|Nouns denoting stable states of affairs| |-STT|Stative|Verbs of being, having, spatial relations| |-SUB|Subjunctive|A verb mood typically used in dependent clauses to express wishes, commands, emotion, possibility, judgment, opinion, necessity, or statements that are contrary to fact at present| |-SUP|Superlative|An adjective that compares the quality with many or all others of its kind|best |-SYN|SYNTACTIC ROLES|| |-TER|Terminative||I finished eating. |-TIM|Time|Nouns denoting time and temporal relations| |-TLT|Translative|A case indicating that the referent of the noun, or the quality of the adjective, that it marks is the result of a process of change.| |-TRA|TRANSITIVITY|A property of verbs that relates to whether a verb can take direct objects.| |-TRI|Trial|A number that refers to three members of the designated class.| |-TST|Direct transitive|A verb which takes a subject and a single direct object|kiss |-TTST|Tritransitive|A verb which takes a subject and three objects.|trade |-VA|Adjunct of a verb|An optional constituent of a verbal phrase.| |-VAL|VALENCY|Verb valency or valence refers to the number of arguments controlled by a verbal predicate.| |-VAL0|Avalent|An avalent verb takes no arguments|rain |-VAL1|Monovalent|A monovalent verb takes one argument|sleep |-VAL2|Divalent|A verb which takes two arguments|eat |-VAL3|Trivalent|A trivalent verb takes three arguments|give |-VAL4|Tetravalent|A trivalent verb takes four arguments| |-VB|Verbal Phrase (Intermediate Projection)|| |-VC|Complement of a verb|A phrasal or clausal category which is selected (subcategorized) by the head of a phrase.| |-VER|Verb||buy |-VOC|Vocative|A case that marks a noun whose referent is being addressed.| |-VOI|VOICE|The voice (also called diathesis) of a verb describes the relationship between the action (or state) that the verb expresses and the participants identified by its arguments (subject, object, etc.).| |-VP|Verbal phrase|| |-VS|Specifier of a verb|| |-WEA|Weather|Verbs of raining, snowing, thawing, thundering| |-WRD|Regular word|| |}